Ships for Victory

During World War II, America’s shipbuilding industry, mobilized under the U.S. Maritime Commission, set records of production that have never been equalled. Given the daunting task of building ships faster than they were being sunk, shipbuilding firms across the country found new ways to increase their efficiency and scale of production. Huge new shipyards were built, a labour force of 640,000 was employed, and over 55 million dead-weight tons of ocean-going ships were delivered, including the famous Liberty and Victory ships. First published in 1951, this is a detailed chronicle of this remarkable wartime programme: the development of revolutionary construction methods; the upheavals in management, awarding of contracts, and allocation of steel and other materials; the recruitment, training, housing, and union activities of the workers; the crises, confusions and scandals that arose; and the role of shipbuilding within the total war effort.

Author Biography

Frederic C. Lane (1900-1984) was a noted maritime historian of medieval and Renaissance Venice. Among his many books are Venetian Ships and Shipbuilders of the Renaissance and Venice, A Maritime Republic, both available from Johns Hopkins. Arthur Donovan is a professor of humanities at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.